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In your wildest

Do you know the meaning of elevators in dreams? If you do, you could win a free analysis with the Dream Doctor, Charles McPhee, the former director of the Sleep Apnoea Program at the Sleep Disorders Centre in California. He runs an interactive site where you can submit dreams for interpretation. Head for the Teen Zone area – they have the most vivid dreams with subjects such as “Time bomb”, “Blind driver”, “Still angry” and “Kill a jaguar”.

The history of dreaming is fascinating. Aristotle thought dreams could indicate illnesses. The Chinese built dream temples that judges would visit to gain wisdom. Ancient Egyptians believed the gods infiltrated the dreams of their royal leaders. This article by Gail Bixler-Thomas explains the importance of dreams since ancient times, and the debate over whether they have meaning or are useless memories being dumped by the brain.

Sigmund Freud – The Interpretation of Dreams

This third edition of Freud’s book was first written in 1899 and is pretty heavy stuff. If you can’t get through it, just try relating everything you’ve ever dreamt of to sex. Freud says that when he worked on the “problems of the neuroses” he had “often gone astray”, but his work on dream interpretation restored his self-confidence.

“Many people have said their first lucid dream was the most wonderful experience of their lives,” says Dr Stephen LaBerge, the founder of this site. Lucid dreaming is when you’re aware that you’re having a dream. While some people worry they’ll become so addicted to pleasurable dreams that they’ll “sleep their lives away”, Dr LaBerge reassures us this is unlikely because we have a limited amount of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

By analysing the dreams of people from several industrialised nations it was discovered that Americans have the highest occurrence of physical aggression. Overall, though, aggression, misfortune and other negative emotions were more frequent in the dreams of people living in poorer or preliterate countries. The papers posted at this site are the results of studies run by researchers at the University of California. The studies
were based on a system developed by psychologist Calvin Hall during the 1940s.

Like a scene straight out of Ghostbusters, the Association for the Study of Dreams,
a non-profit organisation, has run telepathy contests over the past two years. Contestants can increase their powers by focussing their intent so as to encourage “dream incubation”. For example, before going to bed, think: “Tonight I will have a vivid dream about the telepathy contest. I will have clear, detailed, recall of this dream.” Then write down every fragment you remember.

Prominent colours in your dreams have positive and negative connotations says author Bob Hoss, who has written a book on the subject. He outlines a method for selecting the most relevant colours and matching these against a chart that lists statements associated with each colour. There are a few surprises: yellow seems like a cheerful colour but according to Hoss it can mean “unfulfilled hopes have led to uncertainty and apprehension”.

Serial killers, spiders, bogeymen under the bed … they’re all here in more than 200 nightmares, thanks to collator Walter Marconette. “Nightmares tell us that our happy, serene lives can be ripped away at any moment,” says Marconette. “They taunt us with the suggestion that … evil just might triumph in the end.” Hellish scenarios include “Subterranean god”, “Satan’s child”, “Killing spree” and “Date with death”.

Ever had a dream that prophesied an event and it came true? The team at DreamThread would like to hear from you. Site creator Ariadne Green is a counsellor who specialises in dreamwork and shamanism. “We call for dreams answering a variety of global questions,” says the site. “Prophetic dreams can have an incredible impact on the global community.” Green is particularly interested in anything you’ve dreamt about the influence of the Hale-Bopp comet or political and social events.

Crop circles are “symbolic messages” made by an “unknown higher intelligence”, say Joseph Mason and Dee Finney, who’ve spent 10 years researching the phenomenon. They believe crop circles are related to dreams and human consciousness. The most impressive section features crop circle photos next to drawings of symbols from dreams and visions. “Messages from ‘spirit’ and/or ‘alien/ET’ influences are coming to us in various ways … and we NEED to know what they mean,” they implore.

Drug nightmare

Want more refreshing Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep? Don’t try marijuana and alcohol as these usually cause a “REM rebound” where you experience long REM nightmares when the drug has worn off. LSD-type drugs can induce longer REM periods, but they’re also illegal.